Ron Dennis says McLaren will not name its 2017 driver pairing before at least the month of September, adding “it is just too early” to address the topic right now.
The team currently has world champions Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button under contract, with 2015 GP2 Series winner Stoffel Vandoorne serving as the official reserve driver.
While the Spaniard is locked in a three-year agreement through 2017, the Briton’s deal is up at the end of the current campaign with the Belgian hopeful tipped as his likely replacement for next season.
“We are not even going to talk about drivers until after Monza,” Dennis told Sky Sports News. "We will have a board meeting towards the end of September, which is a logical time to make a decision, but we might not even take one then.
“What we won't do is hamper anyone's career. At the moment we have a young and aspiring driver, two tremendous world champions, and as and when we have to talk about it we will take everything into consideration.
“But right now we are barely halfway through the season. The most inappropriate thing we could possibly do is start talking about decisions like that which impact on next year. It's just too early.”
Button previously told F1i’s Chris Medland that he was open to another seat next year and has recently drawn interest from his former team Williams.
Scene at the Grand Prix of Europe
Grand Prix of Europe - Driver ratings
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